nobody gets left behind
by worldoffire
Summary: Because that's what family means, that nobody gets left behind—and somehow, the four of them have become a family.
1. Chapter 1

So, this is based off of the idea that spawned 'odd families and old goals'—the idea burrowed into my mind and wouldn't leave, and this came into being. It takes place in the Naruto universe, though it's sort of AU due to changes I've made that you'll notice in the chapters to come—Karin isn't in love with Sasuke, by the way, because that's the only change I won't actually explain. Hope this all makes sense, because I was tired, as usual, while writing. If you see anything off outside of Karin not slightly slobbering over Sasuke, please do tell me. Enjoy. c:

Disclaimer: I own a balloon with a sharpie face that my friends and I named Jeffrey; however, I don't own Naruto. Or Lilo and Stitch, because the title and part of the description totally came from that movie, so yeah—I sadly can't take credit for the beauty of "family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten", as that goes to the creators/script-writers/whatevers of that movie. You should be able to figure out what I borrowed from that.

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Karin hates this damn hideout; she's been here for six years and she likes it no more than she did when she first arrived at the age of ten. She's almost sixteen now, still under Orochimaru's control and rule for whatever reason; sometimes she wonders why she doesn't just leave, go out on her own and let the prisoners run free. Then she remembers she has nowhere else to go, though that shouldn't stop her—she knows how to fight, how to heal, and she could easily survive in the world until she found somewhere to settle. She's almost done it a few times, too; packed her things, stood at the beginning of the path that leads down the mountain, but she can never make her feet move down the path. She comes up with reasons, excuses, not to, and they don't really need to be done—she's just too afraid to go through with the plans, to be all on her own.

She wishes she wasn't. She'd love to get away from all of this, from the prisoners she guards and the visits from Kabuto that always leave her arm or leg aching from an injection. Away from the utter monotony that is her life, has been for six years, ever since she was taught to handle a sword and then shipped off here to guard the prisoners that are more likely test subjects, from how they look. She thinks it would've been better if she'd been allowed to stay with Orochimaru, traveling from hideout to hideout; that hadn't been bad, really. It had been fascinating to see so many places, in varied shinobi countries. Now she just sees this place, all stone walls and metal bars, with her cramped room and tiny kitchen the only secluded places in the hideout; it's not even a proper one, really. It's a prison, because hideouts are a lot more spacious, and this is barely big enough to contain the prisoners here.

The view over the cliff isn't half bad, though—it's the one thing Karin likes about this place. It overlooks the ocean, as far as she can see, and she does like to retrieve one of her few books and come out here, sitting down against the rock wall and reading or thinking or indulging in one of her fantasies of escaping. That's what she's doing right now—thinking back on everything and nothing and not paying attention to anything. For all she knows the prisoners have escaped and run right past her. She doesn't think she would really care, though; they're not her captives, they're Orochimaru's and she's just here to watch the place. She is supposed to make sure they don't run amok, but she doubts she'd stop them if they did. Maybe, she fantasizes, she'd go with them.

She laughs out loud at that, leaning back to lie on the cliff. Even if they were all gone, running free, she'd never leave, despite her entire responsibility being gone. She likes having a home, even a horrid one such as this one, far too much, and she doesn't have any family to provide her with another one—her mother's been dead for years and if she has other family she's unaware of it. Therefore—she won't leave, and it's ludicrous to even think of it happening, her going out on her own.

As she laughs, still, something hits her sensory range, which extends a good amount; it's reaching out for about two hundred feet, meaning whoever just entered her range is close, very close. She stops laughing, sitting up and reaching for the sword that never leaves her side; she's just realized that there are two chakra signatures, neither familiar, and not hidden even slightly. Either they don't realize that someone is here, because even a normal shinobi would be able to sense unhidden chakra from roughly one hundred feet; or they do, and simply don't care.

She stands, hides her chakra as best as she can, and adjusts her sword. Whoever it is, they'll need to face her—and she won't go down without a fight.

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Suigetsu stops to stretch and take a sip of water, and though he's stopped, his companion hasn't—Sasuke just keeps going, walking like they haven't been going for nearly five hours, getting a bit ahead; Suigetsu starts to jog for a minute, then walks once he's next to the Uchiha once again. He knows that the Uchiha has good stamina, but it's insane; he needs to rest, because he's pretty sure it's not healthy to go as long as Sasuke has without sleep. They've been traveling together five days or so, and Suigetsu is fairly sure that the Uchiha hasn't slept for at least two.

That really isn't healthy. Karin's a medic, sort of; once they get there perhaps she'll be able to convince Sasuke to get some damn sleep, maybe eat something. At least he knows that he's eaten recently; they stopped on the way to this hideout or prison or whatever it was, disguising themselves so that they could have a meal—that was probably eight hours ago, and he's starting to feel hungry again; he assumes Sasuke is too. It shouldn't be that much longer until they reach the cave that holds Karin and the ones she guards. When they'd looked at the map, there had been a few landmarks put on it—they've just passed the one closest to the cave, if he recalls correctly, so it shouldn't be too long.

"Oi. Sasuke. It's not too much farther to that cave, yeah?"

"No, it isn't. We should be there—"

Suigetsu has been staring at the ground, but now he looks up, wondering what made Sasuke stop—and there's the girl they've come to collect, blood-red hair flying free, scarlet eyes flashing behind the lenses of her glasses, and sword at her side.

"Well. You're not who I was expecting to see, not at all—I was thinking there were a couple looters on their way up the path when I sensed you. So, boys—what brings you here? Suigetsu, last I checked you were trapped in a tank while they did experiments on you; and Sasuke, Orochimaru didn't let you out of his sight—what have I missed?"

Sasuke inhales sharply—he probably hasn't thought she regularly checked for people, though Suigetsu had suspected it; he knew her better, after all, seeing as they'd spent a month training together when they were ten. They'd been decent friends after that, too; there was a shared hatred of the daily tests that had started their friendship, and it had gone on from there; he'd actually been disappointed when she was sent off here and he was trapped in a tank. It'd been nice having someone to talk to.

Beside him, Sasuke slowly lets out his breath, eyes on Karin's sword the whole time, and then finally speaks. "It's a long story. Can we go to the cave to discuss it?"

She assesses Sasuke first, and then turns her eyes on Suigetsu for a minute or two. She must decide to trust them, at least for now, because she turns and walks back up the path.


	2. Chapter 2

Edit & repost of chapter two, 06.02.13: Fixed some things up and added a bit at the end from Karin. CATCH THE REFERENCE HEHE. (Obviously don't own it.)

/flailflailflail/ Oh reviewers you make me so so so happy! c: I actually really flailed upon seeing them, so nice were your comments. Anyways, on with this next chapter! As always I was tired so hope it's not nonsensical. Plenty of dialogue and thought and not much actual action/plot stuff happening, because I wanted to go ahead and get somewhere but also get a feel for how I plan to write this. Enjoy. c:

Disclaimer: I own various keychains, but sadly not Naruto.

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As he sits in the tiny kitchen that Karin has in her cave, Suigetsu is reminded of the tank he'd lived in for six years—it's cramped and small, not much room, but they do manage to be comfortable in here, which is something he'd never felt in his tank. He'd had some space, sure, but not much; and while they're sort of squished within the kitchen, it's not uncomfortable. It's more the feel of a cozy home, not a cramped room. He and Sasuke are across from each other at the circular table, with hot mugs of tea before them, and Karin has situated herself atop the counter next to him, her cup held in her hands.

"And, well, now we're all here." Sasuke has finally finished telling the entire story of how they came to be here; it's been something close to an hour, because Karin convinced him to tell every detail he could of his fight with Orochimaru. They've been here about three, though, because before she'd insisted on hearing the story of his battle she'd told him, "Go get some sleep, damn it, because it's not healthy at all to go that long without it."

Suigetsu had chuckled at that, and Sasuke had glared at him before stalking off to the bedroom under Karin's gaze. While he'd finally gotten the sleep he'd needed quite a bit, he and Karin had stayed in the kitchen talking about anything that came to either of their minds—the six years that had passed, mostly, and they'd also concentrated on their utter hatred of Yakushi Kabuto and all of the damned tests and injections and everything else he'd put them through. Then the subject had turned to what, exactly, Suigetsu was doing with Sasuke—he'd told her what he could of Sasuke's plans, that he wanted her to join the two of them, and then he wanted to retrieve Juugo from his isolation. They both found that insane—after all, if the rumors that slowly went around by the prisoners' mouths were true, he went on unstoppable rampages at random times. Before they could discuss any more on that, though, Sasuke had returned from his sleep and Karin had begun to pester him about telling the details of his fight, and now he's just finished telling them that.

"Mhm. And as Sui told me, you want me to join you, yes?"

"Wait, wait. My name isn't Sui, it's Suigetsu. Why the hell are you calling me Sui?" He's slightly agitated by that, but also brought back to his past; his brother, Mangetsu, had been the last person to call him by a nickname—actually, he'd called him Sui as well. Funny.

"Because Suigetsu is a long name and I don't want to say it every time I address you. Besides, you used to call me Kar; I feel I have a right to call you Sui." She sticks her tongue out at him and then smirks, just like they're ten again and probably because she knows it will irritate him (and she does like to do that), and he has to fight down the growing urge to laugh; that's funny at sixteen. Sasuke's smirking at him too, from across the table, amusement evident, and he briefly looks his way with a scowl.

"I really don't want to argue with you over it, because you'd probably win... so, fine. Just, not in public, okay?"

"You know you're acting like I've already agreed to come with you two?"

"You know you're just as annoying as you were at ten, right?"

Within minutes it dissolves into the two of them going back and forth with insults, and Sasuke's smirk grows more and more amused until he eventually loses his composure and laughs—actually laughs, and though it's a short, momentary one, he and Karin both turn and stare at him as if he's just announced he wants to become a civilian. Suigetsu hadn't realized Uchihas actually laughed, ever, and Karin apparently didn't either. He glares at them both, they look at each other, and they both dissolve into laughter while Sasuke just continues to glare, slouching in his seat. That's when Suigetsu realizes he actually likes having Karin and maybe even Sasuke around—he can barely recall the last time he laughed like this. Hell, it was probably way back when he lived with his brother.

"So, Karin. Have you decided whether or not you'll join us?" Sasuke's regained his usual stony composure, and is sitting straight again; it's a shame, really. It had been a treat seeing him do something other than glare, or stare aimlessly.

She stops laughing long enough to answer. "...Yeah, I have. I think I will. I'm not sure why, really, because you're clearly insane for wanting to recruit Juugo and Sui is, well, him... but yeah, I'll go with you."

She goes to gather up her few belongings, and gives Suigetsu the keys. "Here. Go unlock those cages. If I'm leaving, so are they."

He does as she asks; they don't move for a moment, but after realizing he's serious, they go. The last one leaves his sight as she returns with a bag over her shoulder. Sasuke joins them as they stand at the mouth of the cave.

"Come on. We've got a long way to go until we reach Juugo, and I'd like to be there reasonably soon."

"Yeah, yeah," he mutters, watching Sasuke sets off. Karin grins at his side, and he actually thinks this might not be too bad of an idea so far.

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As they walk, sticking to roads barely anyone uses, whether shinobi or civilian, Karin wonders exactly it was that made her decide to go with them. Just before they came along, she'd even admitted to herself that she'd never leave—and now here she is, walking behind Sasuke with Suigetsu at her side as they head to the small prison that Juugo is isolated in. She doesn't know why, really; she'd just felt like she should go when they'd asked, as if it was fate, or something else out of a children's book. She doesn't believe in fate because she doesn't like to think she's not in control of her life) so that won't satisfy her mind. She'll have to come up with some other reason.

"There's a town up ahead; are the two of you hungry?" Sasuke's voice almost makes her jump; food does sound nice, though.

"Yeah, I am. Sui?"

"Damn, I was almost hoping you might forget about that name. Anyways, food is always good, so yeah."

"In your dreams. I'm not going to forget that."

"Could we please not have a repeat of earlier?" Sasuke sighs from ahead. "Fighting without jutsu and swords gives me a headache."

"If we can walk faster. I might be able to ignore her once I eat something, and maybe sleep."

She snorts at that, and he halfheartedly tries to smack at her arm. He misses, but she does still retaliate, pulling out her sword and jabbing at him. He pulls his as well, and they both step into sparring position. Sasuke sits down against a nearby tree, muttering something she can't hear, though it's probably something about hunger and irritation and possibly slight amusement. Then Suigetsu swings and she actually has to pay attention—as she dodges and attacks, she almost smiles—even if she doesn't know why she's here, she thinks she likes it.


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